INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH 
Summary Minutes of Meeting 
February 25, 1977 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 
The third meeting of the full Interagency Committee took place on 
February 25th at the National Institutes of Health from 1:30 to 4:45 p.m. 
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Donald Fredrickson, Director of the NIH. 
The purpose of this meeting was to review the work of the subcommittee to 
the Interagency Committee and to develop recommendations for the implemen- 
tation of a common set of standards applicable to recombinant DNA research 
Review of Federal and State/Local Activities 
Public hearings have been held in California and New York, and local 
advisory groups have been formed in Cambridge, Princeton, and other 
municipalities. In New York, the hearings have resulted in the State 
Attorney General's Environmental Health Bureau proposing legislation 
calling for adherence to safety standards with state certification of 
researchers and monitoring of facilities. The Cambridge City Council has 
also adopted a resolution with similar provisions. 
Members of the Committee have received the provisions of a bill (S.621) 
introduced by Senator Bumpers (with the companion bill being introduced 
into the House by Representative Ottinger). Congressional hearings on the 
regulation of recombinant DNA research are tentatively scheduled for early 
April. 
Review of Existing Regulatory Authorities 
The Committee agreed that Federal regulation of recombinant DNA research 
was desirable and each member received the document "Regulation of Recombinant 
DNA Research in Laboratories" analyzing the adequacy of existing authorities 
for such regulation. It was the final conclusion of a group of lawyers 
representing the various regulatory agencies that no single authority exists 
which would adequately regulate such research. The Committee agreed with 
this conclusion. 
Contacts with Various Sectors 
Various member agencies of the Committee have been in contact with sectors 
with whom they frequently deal. The Department of Agriculture is in the 
process of developing a report stating the position of their non-biomedical 
scientists, and minutes will soon be available of a recent meeting of the 
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